Spring 2015 ConfChem: Interactive Visualizations for Chemistry Teaching and Learning 1 Research into Practice: Visualizing the molecular world for a deep understanding of chemistry

A seminal paper by Johnstone (1982) offered an explanation for why science in general, and chemistry in particular, is so difficult to learn. He proposed that an expert in chemistry thinks seamlessly between three levels; the macro (referred to as the observable level in this article), the sub-micro (referred to as the molecular level here), and the representational (referred to as the symbolic level here). The observable level involves chemical changes that are visible, tangible, and often perceptible with other senses. The imperceptible molecular level of understanding consists of dynamic, imaginary mental images that chemists use to explain observations in terms of structures and processes involving atoms, ions and molecules. Observed phenomena, and molecular-level structures and processes are then represented using chemical notation, and rationalised mathematically, at the symbolic level. No wonder novices have difficulty with chemistry!